MY FAITH-FILLED JOURNEY WITH THE DIAGNOSIS OF LUNG CANCER

My name is Kim Johnson, and I turned 60 this year. I currently live with my elderly parents in their home.

I moved in with my parents in 2019 as I was suffering from a mental breakdown and my life had fallen apart. In that same year, both my mom and dad were diagnosed with cancer. My dad has bladder cancer, and my mom has lung cancer.

I was first introduced to Jesus and began my walk with God in 1988. However, as life went on, my relationship with God eventually came to a standstill. I had stopped growing spiritually and began making the worst decisions in my life. My relationships both with God and with my loved ones had become increasingly strained.

But praise be to God that he had once again saved me. God humbled me as I was forced to move in with my mom and dad. I lost almost everything: my job, my livelihood, most of my possessions, my money, my memory, my intellect, my sanity, and my marriage. As a result, I became desperate for God once again and longed to have a deeper relationship with Jesus so that in 2020, I was restored to God and to his people. I began growing spiritually and started working on repairing those broken relationships.

On December 12, 2022, I was informed that I have adenocarcinoma of the lung. Lately, the following scriptures have been penetrating and overflowing in my heart and mind since my faithful journey with lung cancer had begun.

Psalm 139:13-16 (NIV)

13 For you created my inmost being;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you

    when I was made in the secret place,

    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;

    all the days ordained for me were written in your book

    before one of them came to be.

Acts 17:26-27 (NIV)

26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.

God has graciously showed me how he is in control of everything, and I am not. He continually demonstrates to me how he is taking care of all my needs and that I need to just trust in him completely.

Hopefully as you are sharing this journey with me, you will see God's work in your life as well. As I share my story and what I am learning, prayerfully you will see God’s mighty power and great love as he is orchestrating all that is happening in my life right now. My prayer is that you too will see how he is working mightily in your own life as you ask him to show you his love. I pray that you believe in Jesus’ promise quoted in Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” God is there waiting for you to reach out to him so that you too can see his work in your life.

COMMENTS WHEN BLOG WAS FIRST POSTED ON CARING BRIDGE SITE:

Pam Franz : Kim, we are humbled as a family that you have invited us to walk on this journey with you. Our family loves you dearly✝️❣️